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Brussels, Belgium – With the close of the poll in the European Union, the first exit polls suggest that the turnout in this year's European elections has been higher than usual and that the balance of power should change to the room.
Taking place against the backdrop of an increase in support for far-right and nationalist parties at the national level in recent years, the election has been widely described as a battle between the establishment and the European and its eurosceptic challengers.
More than 400 million Europeans in 28 Member States were called to ballot for four days to elect 751 members of the only directly elected EU body. Brexiting, Great Britain and the Netherlands launched Thursday the elections that take place every five years. On Sunday, 21 countries voted and the results are expected at night.
The European Parliament is responsible for choosing the next President of the European Commission, sharing the EU's annual budget with the EU Council and overseeing the work of the EU institutions. Although it can not initiate legislation, which is the responsibility of the European Commission, it can adopt and modify it.
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What are the stakes of the European elections? |
High participation rate
Elections to the European Parliament are generally regarded as "second-rate" votes by citizens, who traditionally use them to express their frustrations with their own national governments by "protest votes". Participation has steadily decreased since their first appearance in 1979.
But participation estimates suggest that this year could reverse this trend.
By noon, 14.4% of eligible voters went to the polls in Poland, almost twice as much as in 2014.
At the start of the evening, an EU spokesperson estimated the official turnout at 51% for 27 countries, with the exception of the United Kingdom.
In the last elections to the European Parliament in 2014, 42.6% of eligible voters cast ballots.
The two largest political groups in the European Parliament, the center-right European People's Party (EPP) and the Progressive Alliance of Left-Center Socialists and Democrats (S & D), are on the verge of losing 39 and 38 seats respectively, according to a total of 14 estimates and voting intentions when these were not available – which unbalances their dominance and makes this parliament the most fragmented so far.
The EPP, whose main candidate is Manfred Weber of the German Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), is currently the largest group in the European Parliament and holds the three top positions in the European Union.
As alliances tend to form on a number by number This means that it may become more difficult to form majorities.
There are currently eight political groups that national parties can join.
A new group consisting of the centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the Macron Renaissance Movement and the USR-PLUS of Romania until there has more than 100 seats. French polls suggest that Macron is second behind Marine Le Pen.
"For the first time in 40 years, the [EPP and the S&D] Guy Verhofstadt, chairman of the ALDE group, told reporters at a press conference. "No solid pro-European majority is possible without centrist groups".
Another big winner so far compared to the last legislature is the group of Greens, which should win 69 seats, mainly thanks to the German result.
"To create a stable EU, the Greens will become indispensable," said Ska Keller, the group's lead candidate for the European Commission.
The centrist and liberal Alliance for Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and the Greens are likely to play a more central role in future decision-making.
The European Union Left / Nordic Green Left (GUE / NGL) is expected to lose 10 seats.
The right-wing parties led by Italy's Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini are now expected to win 57 seats, 21 more than in the last legislature.
In addition to a number of other Eurosceptic and nationalist parties in the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, such as Polish law and justice, they want to take over power in Brussels and transfer it to national governments.
However, these parties are very divided on issues such as the budget, the role of Russia and migration, which raises questions about the consistency of their front in Parliament.
Preliminary results: watch the socialists
In the Netherlands, exit polls place the Labor Party slightly ahead of the ruling VVD party led by Mark Rutte. The two polls are 18% and 15% respectively, a surprising result that will strengthen the first Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, who heads the Labor Party and is the main S & D candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission.
The far-right Democracy Forum (FvD) and its flamboyant leader, Thierry Baudet, 36, were considered Rutte's main rival after the party's first participation in the provincial elections held earlier. this year. He is in fourth place.
In Germany, the center-right political alliance CDU / CSU, which includes Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, remains the most important party with 28% of the vote, but it is the Greens who seem on the verge of 39, get the best results at 22% of the vote. .
"This does not mean that we are going to witness dramatic changes in the balance of political forces compared to what we expected a few days ago," said Doru Frantescu, CEO of the Brussels-based think tank, Votewatch Europe. Al Jazeera.
"We are seeing changes on the left between political families, the Greens occupying more seats than expected but taking these seats to the Socialists," he said, adding that the socialist crash seemed larger than expected, despite gains in Netherlands, which has only five seats in the European Parliament.
"This is signaled by the result in Germany, where the Greens have overtaken the Socialists for the first time."
In Austria, the Austrian far-right party (FPO) does not seem to have suffered mbadive electoral losses as a result of the video "Ibiza-gate". He is third with 17.5%, behind the Austrian People's Party (34.5%). and the Austrian Social Democratic Party (23.5%).
The FPO, a key ally of Salvini's coalition for a "Europe of Nations", was hit by a scandal after the release of a secretly filmed video of his leader and Austrian Vice Chancellor, Heinz-Christian Strache, offering lucrative government contracts in exchange for a campaign. support for a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch. The Austrian government has witnessed a series of resignations from far-right ministers and faces a vote of no confidence Monday.
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